A critical overview of available research material for the scholar or interested reader on the 1951 Festival of Britai

Benincasa-Sharman, Caterina Amanda

History Today

English

University of Huddersfield Repository

University of Huddersfield RepositoryBenincasa-Sharman, Caterina AmandaSignposts: The Festival of Britain 1951Original CitationBenincasa-Sharman, Caterina Amanda (2011) Signposts: The Festival of Britain 1951. History Today. pp. 54-55. ISSN 0018-2753 This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/10820/The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of theUniversity, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the itemson this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners.Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generallycan be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in anyformat or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profitpurposes without prior permission or charge, provided:• The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy;• A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and• The content is not changed in any way.For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, pleasecontact the Repository Team at: E.mailbox@hud.ac.uk.http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/  Signposts, Festival of Britain: Original pre-edited version.   In 1943, the Royal Society of Arts suggested that the 1851 Great Exhibition of All Nations should be commemorated. Initially proposed by Labour in 1948 as an international exhibition, the 1951 Festival celebrated the past, contemporary and future of Britain.  Each of the four nations held government sanctioned exhibitions, Arts Festivals and played host to HMS Campania and its Seaborne Exhibition.  The Land Travelling Exhibition carried on over 100 lorries, called at four cities in England between May and October.  The 1951 Festival of Britain had to be more successful than the 1946 Britain Can Make It Exhibition, which was not received well by press or public, haǀiŶg ďeeŶ ŶiĐkŶaŵed ͚BritaiŶ CaŶ͛t Haǀe It͛.  So, with this in mind all cities, towns and villages across Britain were encouraged to participate in 1951 with their own celebrations and to focus on the Festival being a potential catalyst for a lasting legacy in their communities. Civic pride was promoted via the restoration of buildings, suĐh as St. George͛s Hall iŶ Liǀerpool, or the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. New builds were constructed, like the two sets of Festival Flats in York and bomb damaged sites were tidied up.  Sometimes plaques laid by Corporations still attest to this, like the two bold brass ones that adorn the entrance to Festival House in the now, pedestrianised shopping precinct in Hull. A nationwide celebration, rather than a repetition of the scope of the 1851 Exhibition, means that Council Archives and Libraries are jam packed with, as yet, unopened files of material from this period, ripe for the picking.   Post 1951, there were primarily two recognisable sources. The first, MiĐhael FraǇŶ͛s ŵuch quoted 1963 essay Festival, concentrated on whom the Festival was for. Bevis Hiller and Mary Banham͛s A Tonic To The Nation (Thames & Hudson, 1976) which complimented a 25th anniversary exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, was, until recently, the  seminal account of the Festival. The local was highly marginalised here, which perhaps prompted Hillier to write in 1986 that there ǁere ͚errors of ĐoŵŵissioŶ rather thaŶ oŵissioŶ͛ in this retrospective of the Festival. Even now it isŶ͛t uŶĐoŵŵoŶ for people to be surprised that ͚soŵething happened outside LoŶdoŶ͛?  Such a reductionist view should have been remedied by Becky CoŶekiŶ͛s  ďook, The Autobiography of a Nation (Manchester University Press, 2003), because she really put scholarship of the Festival back on the radar more than a quarter of a century after Tonic was published. Conekin looked at how government sanctioned exhibitions and localised eǀeŶts Đreated Ŷarratiǀes of BritaiŶ͛s past aŶd represeŶted hoǁ it saǁ its future.  And highlighted how the Festival, unlike for example, the British Empire Exhibitions, sought to understand and revel in BritaiŶ͛s regioŶal differeŶĐes in all of its four nations like never before. More recently, Paul ‘eŶŶie͛s Festival of Britain Design, 1951 was published by the Antique Collectors Club (2007), but it is no Millers Guide, it is much, much, more. Placing the Festival in its populist context allowed him to showcase some of his vast collection of commemorative memorabilia. What I loved about this contribution to our understanding of the Festival, was the acceptance that the study of souvenirs (and perhaps, kitsch) has a place in aŶǇ eǀeŶt or eǆhiďitioŶs͛ narrative. Cultural commentators and design historians such as Pat Kirkham,  Judy Atfield and  Penny Sparke all helped to legitimise such artefacts, by suggesting that the material culture of consumption as well as production,  was worthy of study. Importantly, Rennie pointed out that ǁe shouldŶ͛t forget that ͚the past is reconstructed through its oďjeĐts͛.  The DVD ͚London in Festival Year͛ (Panamint Cinema, 2009) comprises of four films created in 1951 in response to the Festival. Brief City, commissioned by the Observer newspaper, walks the viewer around the Southbank  and the Battersea Funfair, which it describes as a ͚gigaŶtiĐ toǇshop for adults͛. With post-war reconstruction on the political agenda, links were made between the exhibition and city planning.  Litter bins, the lettering for signposts and the contemporary architecture of the Southbank were given equal status with the objects on display in the exhibition halls.  The importance of educating the public in good taste, echoed the expectations that design reformer Henry Cole had had for the 1851 EǆhiďitioŶ. Housed iŶ Joseph PaǆtoŶ͛s ďold ͚CrǇstal PalaĐe͛ he hoped to encourage an appreciation for better design by manufacturers, craftsmen and consumers. Unfortunately for Cole, what was on display turned out to be more historicist than cutting edge.   The celebrations that took place in 1951 encouraged national and community pride while encouraging empathy across the classes and nations as part of post war optimism.  Less fun thaŶ the Oďserǀer͛s represeŶtatioŶ, A Family Portrait (also on the DVD above) by the prolific documentary maker Humphrey Jennings privileged the idea that Britain had ͚aǀoided iŶǀasioŶ͛ aŶd as suĐh should ďe grateful for still being ͚a faŵilǇ͛ with a legacy of invention, artistry and industry to live up to.  Similarly dour, David, Directed by Paul Dickinson and sponsored by the Welsh Committee for the Festival of Britain (1951) included on Shadows of Progress, Documentary Film in Post-War Britain 1951-1977 (BFI, 2010) , presents the emotive fable of Mr Dafydd  Rhys, a school caretaker, ex miner and would-be- poet who lives in a place where the people are ͚ŵore a faŵilǇ, thaŶ a toǁŶ͛.   Not all of the material generated in the festival year is as illuminating or interesting.  J B PriestleǇ͛s  novel, Festival at Fairbridge is a hard slog at just under 600 pages and if anything, turns you off, rather than on to the Festival of Britain. Thankfully, to save you from Priestly, there are three new perspectives out later, in this 60th Anniversary year.   Naomi Gaŵe͛s  A Symbol For The Festival, Abram Games and the Festival of Britain (Capital History  ,2011 )  will build on  the deliciously visual and informative Abram Games, Graphic Designer: Maximum Meaning, Minimum Means (Design Council, 2004) ǁhere Gaŵe͛s winning Festival logo was discussed in the context of his prolific outputs.  Harriet AtkiŶsoŶ͛s The Festival of Britain: A Land and its People (I B Tauris, 2011) will look at how the Festival ͚desigŶers͛ ǀisioŶ of a ŵoderŶ, reĐoŶstruĐted ĐouŶtrǇ ͚had a ͚deep eŶgageŵeŶt ǁith the British laŶd aŶd its historǇ͛. Finally, Beacon for Change. How the 1951 Festival of Britain Shaped the Modern Age (Aurum, 2011) by Barry Turner takes the festiǀal͛s legaĐies as its primary subject matter. The great thing about having an interest in the 1951 Festival of Britain is that there is still so much left to discover. So many cities, towns and villages have yet to have their contribution told. But with the potential closure of local libraries, I wonder how much of the potential material will become inaccessible?   Caterina Benincasa-Sharman  

Signposts: The Festival of Britain 1951

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